Crossing the border with Blue Jays beat reporter Jordan Bastian.

Game #33: Red Sox at Blue Jays

Getting interactive:I may be setting a dangerous precedent here in the sense that I won’t be able to do this that often, but what the heck. I’m at the Boston-Toronto game tonight at the Rogers Centre, but have the day off from writing. So, to pass the time here in the pressbox, I’ll agree to field some in-game questions from Blue Jays Nation. Just post a question in the comment field below this post, and I’ll try to get to it during the game. I may not get to all of them, so the better your inquiries, the more likely I’ll be to single it out. These can be questions about the game in progress, or about the team in general. Talk to you soon…

NOTES: It looks like RHP Victor Zambrano won’t be making another start for the Blue Jays, but Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi wouldn’t clarify who might start on Sunday, saying only, "We’ll have something on that later in the week." One option could be RHP Casey Janssen, who is currently in the bullpen. … Ricciardi said LHP Gustavo Chacin (sore shoulder) is feeling better and he’s scheduled to play catch again on Saturday. Chacin, who will need a few Minor League rehab starts, is eligible to be activated from the DL on May 14, but it’s more likely he’s out until closer to the end of the month. … RHP John Thomson has a blister on a finger on his throwing hand, according to Ricciardi, and that will delay his rehab with Triple-A Syracuse by 10 days. That means Toronto won’t have to make a decision on Thomson until around the first week of June.

ROBERTLEE13: With the Jays having so many early-round picks this year, I think it’s very likely you’ll see more high schoolers selected than in the past. This should also be the case given the fact that Toronto has had so many of their college picks fly through the system. The top tiers of the Minors are filled with JP draft selections, and the Jays can now afford to take more HS players to add more depth to the lower tiers.

MS: I think the main issue has been consistency. When the Blue Jays are hitting, they aren’t pitching, and vice versa. You know what’d fix the problem? Not having so many key guys on the DL. As far as a players being “expendable,” the Jays are looking into a replacement for Victor Zambrano. Ricciardi hinted that Jason Frasor could possibly be sent down, but manager John Gibbons has since voiced support for the reliever. Frasor can be very effective, but I don’t think he’s the best choice for that closer’s role. For what it’s worth, my vote for that job would go to Jeremy Accardo right now.

ROBERTLEE13: B.J. Ryan (elbow) and Gregg Zaun (broken right thumb) are out until at least mid-June, possibly longer. Reed Johnson (back) is out until around the All-Star Break in July. Gustavo Chacin (sore left shoulder) will likely be out until the end of this month, and Brandon League? Who knows. His is the most mystifying and confusing of the lot. Ricciardi did say yesterday that League could be back on the mound in the next day or two and possibly in a game soon.

So, the Jays have one pitcher who is almost always good, one pitcher who is good half the time, and three who are good less than half the time?

btw Jordan, just a freindly suggestion.

If you’re going to do this again sometime, maybe you should put the post up a little earlier. I think the game had started before the post was up and I suspect some people just haven’t seen it, thus the lack of questions.

Very true. I did get the post up slightly before the game, but when I opted to do this it was, well, pretty much a game time decision. It’s rare that I’m at the park and I have someone filling in for me writing wise. I’ll let people know more in advance when/if I know I can do this again. I’ll be hanging around postgame to field some Q’s, too.

THIS JUST IN: Lefty Scott Downs is no longer perfect for the season. Downs entered the game with a 0.00 ERA after giving up no runs over 9 1/3 innings. In the sixth tonight, he yielded a two-run homer to Julio Lugo and a solo shot to Manny Ramirez.

When they say McGowan got a fourth and final option granted for this season, what does this mean, can toronto no longer send him down as they do not have a 5th option to bring him up again this year ? thanks

Why is Casey Janson not starting this year. He played well for the first half of last year, his rookie year (the minor league season is shorter). He has pitched well out of the pen this year. He has demonstrated some guts – the retaliation hit on Youlillis was great.

When a player is first placed on a 40-man roster, he is given three option years — three years in which a team can send him up and down between the Minors and Majors’ 25-man roster as many times as they want. Once that third year is up, players become arbitration-eligible. When a player is out of options, a team needs to pass him through waivers before they can send him outright to the Minors. I believe the player can accept or decline such as assignment, too. Declining would make them a Minor League Free Agent. In McGowan’s case, the league granted a fourth option because he missed nearly an entire season during his options years due to elbow surgery. So, Toronto can send him up and down as many times as they please this year with no fear of losing McGowan to another team. Next year, though, he’ll need to make the team out of Spring Training, or Toronto would have to pass him through waivers to send him to Triple-A once again. … Phew! Got all that?

MS: When spring opened, Janssen ranked roughly 9th in the pecking order for a rotation job. It looked like he was destined for Triple-A’s rotation. He pitched so well during the spring, though, that Toronto felt it’d be wrong not to reward him with a job — that meant one in the bullpen. Now, though, with Chacin hurt, Thomson rehabbing, Towers in the ‘pen, Zambrano’s status up in the air, Marcum in the ‘pen, and McGowan in the rotation, Janssen could be on deck for a move into the starting staff. Personally, I would’ve liked to see him in the rotation at the start of the year, but Ohka was under contract and Towers and Zambrano both made serious cases in the spring for starting gigs. Janssen is a starter in the long-term plans.

TORGEN: First off, thanks for being a frequent visitor to the blog. I recognize your e-mail from your many comments this season.

As for your question, I think the bigger issue has been the leadoff spot, honestly. When Reed Johnson got hurt, I really didn’t think the No. 1 spot would be affected as much with Alex Rios as a replacement. He hasn’t been as good as Toronto would’ve hoped in that spot, and experiments with Aaron Hill and Lind have been unsuccessful. I believe the No. 2 spot is a good spot for Lind. He is a solid hitter who is going through a rough patch right now — like most of Toronto’s hitters. Maybe Lyle Overbay would be a better fit for the second slot, but with Rios at the top, Overbay is a good presence to add to the heart of the order behind Wells, Thomas, and Glaus. With few lefty bats available, I believe Lind will continue to get most of his ABs in the two hole. His bat should come around. He’s hit over .300 at every level until this season.

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